JD’s King James put a slam dunk on the $11,000 conditioned pace field Tuesday, June 9 at Oak Grove. He ruled the entire tempo to score the win in the petite field of six with Marcus Miller in the bike. Starting from post one, JD’s King James used that spot to his advantage and shot out to the lead from the gate. Fox Valley Compass put up a little of a challenge early before dropping back in the two hole for Archie Buford with Indiana sired Virgin Storm and Jamaal Denson following in third. Around the first turn, Fox Valley Compass was rough gaited and Buford started to pull him to the outside and make a challenge again but dropped back in behind JD’s King James before the quarter in :26.4. As the field came by the grandstand for the first time, Tickled to Tears and Atlee Bender began their journey forward on the outside, pressing the pace last the half in :54.3. The two top horses continued to battle their way to the three-quarters in 1:22.2 with Fox Valley Compass biding his time tucked in behind. Around the final turn, Track Announcer Peter Kleinhans noted there were four horses bunched together and it was anyone’s race. JD’s King James showed so slower foot on the inside with Tickled to Tears getting a slight advantage in the early stretch. But JD’s King James fought back and took back over. His white bridle and white back stockings were in full view at the wire for the win by three-quarters of a length in 1:52.2. Tickled to Tears finished second over Virgin Storm, who held his ground for third. JD’s King James paid $4.70 for the win. The five-year-old son of Tellitlikeitis is owned by Lori Scholl and trained by Gary Campbell. Jacob Miller bred and raised the gelding, who earned his 11 th straight win. He now has more than $175,000 in earnings with his career best time of 1:51.2 taken as a three-year-old at Dayton Raceway. He is a recent acquisition by Scholl. The Tuesday card at Oak Grove was closed out by Indiana sired Mister Hercules and Marcus Miller in the $13,000 conditioned claimer. After Just Chasing Tails and Geremy Bobbitt set the first quarter in :26.3, Mister Hercules was out and moving , picking up cover behind Star man and Brandon Bates. That cover brought him all the way to the stretch. Once in the stretch, Mister Hercules moved out and went to work, powering by all his opponents for the win by two and one-half lengths in 1:53.4. Lakeside Tammy, also an Indiana sired product of Odds on Equuleus finished second for Joey Putnam with Star Man finishing third. Mister Hercules paid $3.84 for the win. The five-year-old stallion is by Let’s Drink on It and is owned by Chad Bell of Mississippi. Terry Skinner trains the product of Alvin Schwartz’s breeding operation in Berne, Ind. Mister Hercules picked up his second win of 2026 and his 12 th overall. The one-time ISFC contender has more than $59,000 on his card with his career best earned in his Tuesday win. He has been owned by Bell his entire career, purchased out of the Northern Indiana Yearling Speed Sale. He is a half sister to six figure winners Feelnlikearockstar and Vel Donna, and full sister to Lets Flip Onit, also a six figure earner.

The Indiana Standardbred Association (ISA) held its sixth meeting of 2026 for the Board of Directors Monday, June 8 at the ISA Offices in Greenfield. A full agenda extended the meeting past two hours as the organization is in full mode for the 2026 racing season. ISA President John DeLong called the meeting to order with Executive Director Tony Renz making a special phone call to longtime ISA lobbyist Mike McDaniel, who is now retired. DeLong told McDaniel he is one of three for the latest class of inductees into the Indiana Horse Racing Association Hall of Fame. McDaniel will be joined by Steve Cross, former track announcer and sales manager of the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale, and Joe Davis, longtime president of the Indiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association. McDaniel was humbled and at a loss for words regarding the honor. Delong went on to note McDaniel was instrumental in passing legislation that placed money earmarked to horse racing directly to the Indiana Horse Racing Commission to safeguard the money from other state expenditures, which came up each year. McDaniel worked with former Senator Luke Kenley to ensure horse racing purses and funding was protected in Indiana. McDaniel was also instrumental in developing the Governor’s Cup Championships on the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit culminating with escalated purses at the Indiana State Fair. Current ISA Lobbyist Matt Norris gave a short report on legislative updates and said the attention will now be placed on outreach. The hope is to host Legislative Days again at farms in Central Indiana to educate and expose legislators to the importance of horse racing. Executive Director Renz noted he is currently working with Purdue on a potential economic impact study for release next year, which would provide valuable information to legislators for the importance of horse racing in the state, which affects all 92 counties. President DeLong called for an election committee to be established for this fall’s ISA Director Election. Zach Miller will chair the committee. Director Jay Hochstetler noted cost for the current Clinic at Harrah’s Hoosier Park will require additional fees next year, which the board approved to cover and move forward. Director Robert Taylor talked about several works in progress at Harrah’s Hoosier Park, including water in the paddock. DeLong noted two blood gas machines have been ordered with Renz providing a delivery date later in June. Director Jamie Macomber gave an update on the Midwest Standardbred Horse Sale set for this fall. She said they have approved over 400 yearlings and their target is to sell 400 at the event. Discussion was held to potentially have a breeding auction with money raised enhancing current ISA initiatives. The ISA hopes to get more breeders involved in activities and processes for the state’s racing program. Director Rhys Helt went over budgetary aspects for ISA and recently met with officials at the IHRC. He has been exploring ways to capitalize on funds in the ISA budget which will not only safeguard the money, but would provide a way for the money to grow, benefiting members of the ISA with long term goals of adding more benefits to the membership, all while staying under the current guidelines and bylaws for the organization. Helt was commended for his work to place the ISA in a better fiscal position. Director Zach Miller noted the next deadline for college assistance is July 15. Director Doug Rideout gave an update on the Indiana Sired Fair Circuit, noting 39 heats for the first week of action. He also said feedback has been very positive on the new video service provided for the ISFC this year. Director Carrie Hollman noted several promotional activities coming up, including the new Owner’s Club which begins Friday, June 26. The event will be held in the Top of the Park from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m. on select Friday evenings. She said to encourage owners to attend and bring their friends to learn more about horse ownership. Owner’s Night is slated for July 31 featuring giveaways and catering from Mel’s in Shelbyville. Hollman reported the ISA currently has 877 members and encouraged ISA Directors to come up with premium item ideas for Indiana Sires Stakes Finals Night to enhance a silent auction. Renz had several items for approvals which fell under the Promotions category, including packaging of trading cards for the Harness Horse Youth Foundation, an upcoming Friday Night Fling which begins July 17, Governor’s Cup trophies, eight in total, Empire of Hope activities, Elrod Schmucker Chicken meals during racing July 10 and August 21, an Ice Cream Social for horsemen and women provided by Maynard Miller’s Vanilla Bean Creamery, Speed Barn Tour activities and items, and the extension of the Grattan Helmet initiative through the end of 2026. The ISA also plans to provide a raffle item for Empire of Hope with proceeds directed to the Standardbred Transition Alliance. Rideout also proposed a second golf outing for the fall due to the overwhelming response of 71 golfers at the recent event held at Grandview Golf Course. Renz added to the promotional timeline provided by Hollman, noting The Ride with JMV on 93.5 and 107.5 remote at Fox Gardin in Fortville Thursday, June 11. The radio remote will go from 3 – 6 p.m. and will include racing participants as guests of the show. A second remote is set for Moran’s Bar and Grill of Anderson in July to promote horse ownership and family related connections to Standardbred racing. The remotes are provided in partnership between the ISA and the Indiana Standardbred Breed Development. Director Jason Miller noted the State Fair has extended their deadline for county fair grants until Friday, June 19. He encouraged all ISA Directors to contact their local county fair organizations and prompt them to apply for the funding, which has been earmarked for racing at the county fairs. In new business, approvals were received to do maintenance on the current ISA Office, including new railing on the front and paint and staining for the exterior. A new texting service was also approved to better serve the membership of the ISA. Finally, discussion was held to reassign the current regional requirements for ISA Directors, which currently requires two from the northern district, two from the central area, and two from the southern portion of the state. A new proposal would only require one from each district with the other positions moving to an At Large Director. The proposal will need to be voted on by the membership of the ISA and would not go into effect until 2027. It was noted the board sometimes struggles to find ISA members in specific regions to run and serve on the ISA board. Verbiage is now being prepared for presentation later this year to ISA members to tweak the location requirements for the 15-member ISA board. The ISA will hold its next meeting Monday, July 13.

Running Aces Track Announcer Darin Gagne said it best: Fifty Rivers powered home to win his second straight race Sunday, June 7 in Minnesota. Guided by Casey Leonard, Fifty Rivers was tagged as the favorite and was handicapped to the outside in the evening’s featured $15,000 Open Handicap Trot. When the gates folded, he was out and moving but so were several of his opponents to his inside. He was four wide heading into the first turn as Escaper and Rick Magee got the first call on top, taken over shortly before the quarter in :27.3 by Go have Fun and Brady Jenson. The third lead change took just a few more strides as Fifty Rivers pursued the top spot and slid into the lead headed by the grandstand the first time. Once on the lead, the Indiana trotter relaxed and led the way through the half in :56.2, keeping up his momentum through the middle fractions. In the stretch, Fifty Rivers began to pull away from the field, winning by a comfortable two and one-half lengths at the wire in 1:53.1, a final panel trotted in :28.1. Escaper finished second over Peanutbutterfalcon and Scott Cisco for third. Fifty Rivers paid $5.40 for the win. The four-year-old son of Fiftydallarbill is owned by JMF Racing and trained by Kathleen Plested. John Barnard, who owns Indiana stallion Fiftydallarbil, bred and raised the gelding, who now has seven wins this season and 14 overall, He is just under the $200,000 mark in earnings. His career best time of 1:52.3 was taken earlier this year at Dover Downs. Fifty Rivers is out of Barnard’s tough race mare Hudson Jesse, also an Indiana sired trotter who earned a mark of 1:54.0 during her career with more than $341,000 in earnings. In addition to Fifty Rivers, her latest foal, she has produced Hudson Swan, a winner in 1:53.3 with $41,000 on his card.

World champ makes first start out of Indiana a winning one

Timber Man prevails between horses

Another Tim Smith trotter excelling on the ISFC

Likeit Otoole one of five winners for Driver Clint Coy

Match up between "Mamba" and "Beau"

Dragon Perfect was breathing fire heading down the lane Monday, June 1 at Oak Grove. The Indiana pacer got the jump on the field, pulling away to a victory in 1:53.4. Dragon Perfect had a perfect two-hole starting spot and used a little early speed but could only slip into the four hole at the start for driver Geremy Bobbitt. It’s a JK and Brandon Bates rallied out from the rail for the first lead and was joined by Esteem and Ronnie Wrenn Jr. and Lil Joe IV and Josert Fonseca. Shortly after the quarter in :27.0, Lil Joe V was on the move to the lead and went off stride in the second turn, forcing Esteem three wide to avoid the breaking horse. Dragon Perfect had started to pick up cover behind Esteem but opted back inside to get around the breaking horse. As the field moved down the backside, Dragon Perfect was back out and on the move, briskly taking over the top spot and jetting around the final turn to open up on the field. In the lane, Dragon Perfect was ahead of the field by six and only White Belly and Atlee Bender had a shot of catching him. But in the end, Dragon Perfect was a winner by five and one-quarter lengths in 1:53.4, a final panel paced in :28.4. White Belly finished a comfortable second over Indiana sired Lucks On Time and Pat Curtin for third. Dragon Perfect paid $12.74 for the win. The six-year-old Always a Virgin gelding is owned and trained by John Mungillo. Nathan Miller and Justin Yoder bred and raised the gelding, who earned his first win of the season. Dragon Perfect began his career under the direction of Perry Smith. He was purchased by Smith out of the Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale under the name JN First Time for $15,000 as part of the Bluebird Meadows consignment, who acted as agent for Miller and Yoder. He was the first foal of Dragon Damsel, who earned a mark of 1:53.1. Since that time, she has produced two other winners, JN Pretty Damsel (1:52.0) and The Valley (1:54.1) and is currently racing. The family has a three-year-old colt this season named JN Dragonofthenite. To date, Dragon Perfect has nine wins and took his career best time of 1:51.1 last year at The Red Mile. He now has more than $89,000 on his card. He has been with his current connections for the past year. Another Indiana winner closed out the card as Odds on Anubis and Andy Shetler took over after the quarter and withstood the late charging bunch to win by a half length in 1:53.1. Kountry Carrots, an Indiana sired son of Capt Midnight, finished second for Atlee Bender followed by The Legend Hanover and Jamaal Denson. Odds on Anubis paid $2.42 as the favorite of the field. The Odds On Equuleus is owned by Janie Hartley and trained by Shetler. Odds on Nourrir bred the gelding, who has now won two races this season and seven overall. His career best time of 1:51.3 was taken this year in his previous win at Oak Grove.